Attorneys for Chasse family say Portland insists on secrecy as condition of settlement

Jamie Marquez, Courtesy of The Portland MercuryJames Chasse Jr. is pictured cuffed face down on the sidewalk. Chasse died later by broad-based, blunt force trauma to his chest, as ruled by the state medical examiner.The city of Portland has not made an independent offer to settle with the family of James P. Chasse Jr. since October 2007, while two other parties have successfully settled, according to a filing Monday in the Chasse family's excessive-force suit against the city.

In addition, the city had insisted that a condition of any settlement would be to keep secret the investigations into Chasse's death and related training issues, Chasse family attorney Tom Steenson wrote, contrary to then Mayor Tom Potter's pledge of transparency.

The papers were filed in response to an earlier filing by the city that stated the Chasse family has "declined reasonable efforts to settle." That characterization is false, wrote Steenson, and instead is "an attempt to curry favor with the court and paint the Chasse family as the 'bad guys.'"

The case regarding the September 2006 in-custody death of Chasse, a 42-year-old who suffered from schizophrenia, is scheduled to go to trial in June in front of U.S. District Judge Garr King.

An attorney for the city declined to comment on Steenson's filing.

Two defendants, Multnomah County and ambulance company American Medical Response Northwest Inc. have already settled with the family. Multnomah County settled last summer for $925,000, removing the county and its employees as defendants. The employees included a deputy who was involved in the initial struggle with Chasse and jail nurses who were accused of failing to examine or treat Chasse or call an ambulance.

AMR settled its part of the case last December for a reported $600,000. Its paramedics were accused of failing to follow their own procedures and protocols in dealing with patients who have trauma or are in altered mental states.

According to the filing, the city participated with the county and AMR in settlement discussions in 2008 and 2009 about making a joint offer. Those discussions broke down, and Steenson said other defense attorneys had blamed the city's "unwillingness to contribute a meaningful amount to the joint offer."

The city has also not followed up on promises to make an insurance adjuster available for settlement talks for five months, he wrote. "Rather than work toward settlement, it appears that the City has embarked on a course to ratchet up expenses and costs and drive the case toward trial."

The events leading to Chasse's death began after officers, including Sgt. Kyle Nice and Officer Chris Humphreys, chased him down, believing he may have been urinating in the street. Officers knocked him to the ground and struggled to handcuff him. AMR paramedics were called to the scene but said his vital signs were normal.

Chasse was taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center and appeared to suffer a seizure while in a holding cell. There, the jail nurse said the jail would not book him, and police decided to take him to a hospital. He died in the back of the patrol car.

An autopsy would reveal Chasse died of broad-based blunt force trauma to the chest. Among other injuries, he had sustained 26 breaks to 16 ribs, some of which punctured his lung.